Kestrels: "The Moon Is Shining Our Way" (EP review)

Later this year it's expected that Halifax quartet The Kestrels will be dropping their debut full length album.  To till the soil, they will release the 4-song The Moon Is Shining Our Way EP on July 1st.

The dials are turned to max for this record.  The lead track, "Eternal and Debased", is a reverb-drenched pop number that smacks of Smeared-era Sloan.

The listener is in store for a full-on frenetic guitar assault on the buzzsaw title track.


A walls of sound can be a powerful thing if done correctly.  Unfortunately, the band crank things up a little too much on "Wide Eyes".  The results are a muddled, unfocused song with vocals that get buried way too beneath the maelstrom.  A similar fate befalls "The Double", which has the albatross of a plodding pace to go along with it.

While it has it's moments, The Moon Is Shining Our Way is really an uneven effort.  Hopefully they show a little more restraint and focus on the full length.

The Kestrels play Smiling Buddha Bar in Toronto on July 3rd.

Best tracks: "Eternal and Debased", "The Moon Is Shining Our Way"

Track listing for The Moon Is Shining Our Way:

• Eternal and Debased
• Wide Eyes
• The Moon Is Shining Our Way
• The Double

6.0/10